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New data shows Xcel Energy Colorado’s 2016-2017 all-source competitive solicitation (ASCS) secured even lower costs than power sector leaders previously thought, adding momentum to interest in this emerging approach to procurement.
Xcel’s ASCS returned a $0.017/kWh bid for wind, a $0.023/kWh bid for solar, and a $0.03/kWh bid for solar-plus-storage, according to a February 2021 Xcel presentation to Michigan regulators. These prices, compared to Colorado’s average January 2021 residential electricity price of $0.126/kWh, have other utilities asking how they can use this procurement approach.
ASCSs identify market-based portfolios that meet utility needs on both cost and risk from the full range of options, said 3rdRail Managing Partner Fredrich Kahrl, lead author of a March 2021 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) ASCS study. The study outlines 11 ASCS proceedings from investor-owned ut
Environmental News For The Week Ending 23May 2019
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at
GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
Covid totals continue to fall, both in the US and worldwide. New US cases during the week ending May 22nd were down 22.0% from those testing positive during the week ending May 15th, and down 64.2% from our mid-April surge high; this week s new cases were also the lowest for a 7 day period since that ending June 19th of last year. US deaths attributed to Covid this week were down 7.1% from the prior week, and less than a sixth of the death rate during the peak weeks of January. US Covid deaths were also the lowest since t
Engineering students show off creative solutions to real-world challenges
In annual Design Day showcase, students present their designs and devices to faculty, staff, sponsors, alumni, and each other By Lisa Ercolano / Published May 3, 2021
In laboratories, design spaces, living rooms, bedrooms, and basements, students at Johns Hopkins have been working around the clock to tweak and refine their engineering creations. These projects include a new material that would make solar cells more efficient, a device that would enable earlier detection of recurrent brain tumors, and a freeze-dried bacterial powder that accelerates the process of aging cheeses.
These projects, more than 100 in all, will be presented virtually to faculty mentors, industry sponsors, fellow students, alumni, and other guests tomorrow at the Whiting School of Engineering s Design Day an annual rite of passage that showcases students ability to apply knowledge accum
New Jerseyâs Plan to Become the National Capital of Offshore Wind
Susanne Peticolas and Christopher J. Cavaiola Share:
One of the offshoots of a post-COVID-19 world is the increased attention to other existential threats facing humanity that can cause serious interruptions to business as usual in America. One of those threats is climate change. New Jerseyâs Governor Phil Murphy and his administration have made combating climate change a key priority in the state since taking office in January 2018. Governor Murphy has arguably just unveiled his most ambitious plan to date, introducing plans in June 2020 that would make New Jersey the hub of the Eastern Seaboardâs offshore wind industry by creating a centrally located wind turbine manufacturing and assembly center critical for the wind industryâs growth. This article will explore how Governor Murphy plans to do this, and the potential state and federal policy and legal implications. Is this just another ex
Tweet President Joe Biden meets with members of congress to discuss his jobs plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Joe Biden is hosting a global climate summit at the White House on Thursday. Well, he’s not really hosting anything. Forty world leaders are looking at TV screens, in the countries they live, showing Biden at the White House and there are other TV screens that show other world leaders where they live. But no, no one is physically at the White House.
A “virtual” summit may seem a little silly. After all, the world leaders have all been vaccinated (we think) and Washington, D.C., isn’t under any kind of lockdown. I think the politicians decided the spectacle of pumping all those greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere by using their private planes to get to D.C. for a meeting on climate change was probably an image they wanted to avoid.